I am a widow and will be 65 on 12/31/2018. Your maximize benefits program determines that I can claim benefits on my record at 65, still work and then claim survivors benefit at age 66. Survivor benefit will be higher than my own record if I were to work until 70. I understand the survivor benefit does not increase after age 66. If SSA thinks differently, how do I convince them of the strategy that your program has determined?

Hi,

You have a right to apply for any type of Social Security benefits whenever you choose to do so. Therefore, you really don't need to convince anyone from Social Security to agree with your strategy. Furthermore, if you disagree with the determination that Social Security makes on your claim, you have a right to appeal.

I should note that I answer the questions that are submitted to this forum, but I don't have access to the data submitted by our software subscribers nor their results. However, based on your description it sounds like the strategy that our software has recommended for you is pretty clearly the best option in your case, so hopefully you won't run into any problems when dealing with the people at SSA.

By the way, you'll want to be sure to restrict widow's benefits from the scope of your application when you file your claim for retirement benefits. You can do so by entering a statement in the remarks section of the application such as: 'I wish to restrict widow's benefits from the scope of this application'. You will then need to file a separate application for widow's benefits effective with the month you reach age 66.

Best, Jerry